High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! New Bern is a city in Craven County, North Carolina with a population of 23,128 as of the 2000 census. The estimated population in 2006 was 27,650.It is located at the convergence of the Trent and the Neuse rivers, 87 miles (140 km) northeast of Wilmington. New Bern is the second oldest town in North Carolina and served as the capital of the North Carolina colonial government and then briefly as the state capital. It is the county seat of Craven County and the principal city of the New Bern Micropolitan Statistical Area.